Between the salon and the concert hall

This lecture is devoted to Clémence de Grandval (1828–1907), a highly gifted composer. A pupil of Chopin and the author of music of remarkable originality and aesthetic quality, Grandval played a leading role in French music of her time, especially as a member of the Société nationale de musique. Her works and biography allow us to observe the musical context and practices of the period from an unusual perspective: they show us what space a woman composer could carve out for herself in this environment, and what kind of audience her music addressed. It is revealing that Grandval sometimes distinguished, already on the title page, between music intended for salons and music intended for concert halls, publishing, for example, a Trio de Salon and a Grand Trio.